A Place In This World
by scribble-padfoot
Summary: A year after Jake leaves, Nessie moves to Ipswich, Massachusetts to attend Spencer Academy under the alias of Carlie Black. What will she find there? Her true love? New friends? More monsters?
1. Breathe

**Chapter One: ****Breathe**

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_  
Music starts playin' like the end of a sad movie,  
It's the kinda ending you don't really wanna see.**  
**Cause it's tragedy and it'll only bring you down,**  
**Now I don't know what to be without you around.**  
**And we know it's never simple, never easy.**  
**Never a clean break, no one here to save me.**  
**You're the only thing I know like the back of my hand,**  
**And I can't breathe without you, but I have to,**  
**Breathe without you, but I have to.  
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

**Renesmee's POV**

I had tears in my eyes as I looked down at my engagement and wedding rings. I carefully pulled them off of my left hand, staring at them as they rested in my palm. I had been married for three years. Three marvelous, incredible, romantic years. Now my husband was gone. He was still alive somewhere, I could feel it, but he wasn't with me. I thought about what to do with the rings. With me entering high school again I couldn't be wearing them on my ring finger. Too many people would ask questions and there would be some kind of scandal. Humans could never understand how unimportant age was. As I thought about it, I decided to keep them on a necklace. It would be easier and look less suspicious. I walked over to my dresser and went through my jewelry box until I found an empty chain. I unhooked it, putting the rings on before I hooked it around my neck. I brushed the tears out of my eyes and walked downstairs to say good bye to everyone before I left. I would be going to this high school alone. They all agreed that I needed a break from everyone.

Six hours later I was stepping off the plane in Boston, Massachusetts with Seth. Mom and Dad hadn't been too happy that I was moving across the country, nor that I let Seth come and help me settle in and not them, but they learned to deal with it. No one had really wanted to argue with me anymore because they were afraid that they would say something to upset me. It made some things easier, but was mostly annoying. Even Seth now treated me like I was made of glass. He quickly grabbed my bags and led the way to the exit where a car was waiting for us. We found the car and got in, Seth driving, and immediately took off for the boarding school where I would be spending the next year. I was excited to be getting this experience, but also nervous and upset. I didn't know if further cutting myself off from the pack and my family would help ease my pain, but I had to try something. Sitting in Forks and moping was obviously not doing any good.

The ride was about an hour long. Seth didn't speed like I was used to with my family, but it gave me time to think things over and decide that this new school would be the beginning of a new me. I wasn't going to be all mopy anymore. I was going to make some normal friends and enjoy myself for once. Seth seemed to understand that I needed the peace and remained quiet for the majority of the ride, only commenting on certain things he saw out the window if they were particularly interesting. Massachusetts was definitely different than Washington.

We arrived at Spencer Academy before night fall. The old building looked eerie in the fading light, but I paid it no mind. I was tired and just wanted to go to bed. Seth let me out in front of the building that I would be staying in and went to park the car. He would be running back to the airport to catch his plane home and leaving me with the car. It was a nice car, a new, black Mustang. Dad had bought it to try and cheer me up. I shouldered the small backpack I had taken and decided to take a walk around the building before heading up. It would probably take Seth a while to park anyway.

* * *

**Seth's POV**

I quickly parked the car and grabbed all of Nessie's things before heading back towards the dorms. I hated that I had to leave her here by herself. In my opinion, she needed her friends and family to be around in order to help her get out of the depression she was in. But she thought she needed a change of scenery in order to recover. And whatever she asked for I did. Since Jake left, the job of protecting her and making sure she was happy fell onto my shoulders, and I was trying to take it seriously. She was like a little sister to me and I hated seeing her hurt.

Once in the building I tried to remember her room number. Two hundred something. Two hundred and ten? That sounded about right, so I walked up the flight of stairs to the second story and walked down the hallway slowly. Once I was at the room I kicked the door, because I couldn't knock with her suitcases in my hands, and yelled "Ness open up!" The door did open, but it wasn't Nessie. It was a blonde girl, and behind her I noticed another girl, so I was guessing that I got the room number wrong. "Oh, sorry. I thought this was my friend's room." I apologized.

"No problem," she said with a smile. "Who're you looking for?" she asked. She seemed friendly enough, but I doubted she knew which room was Nessie's since Ness was new and everything. But you never know, and it wouldn't hurt to ask.

"Um, Carlie Black's room. She's new here," I said hesitantly. It was weird calling her Carlie since it was her middle name. She had decided to go by Carlie because it blended in better and made her seem more normal. She would never really be normal, though. And I was also shocked when she told me she wanted to continue using Jake's name. It showed how much she had loved him and how much she missed him.

"She's down the ha-…" the blonde started to say, but just then the door to the stairwell opened and Nessie walked out. "I'm guessing that's her?" she said when I turned towards Nessie. I nodded and began walking towards her.

"You're here already?" Nessie asked, shocked. She obviously doubted my parking skills. She walked towards her room, 212 (I was only off by two) and opened the door, allowing me to pass through and put her stuff on the bed. It was empty, so I assumed she didn't have a roommate. This was probably good for her, because I knew she woke up in the middle of the night from nightmares ever since Jake left.

The blonde was standing right outside the door. "I'm Sarah," she said with a smile, holding her hand out to Nessie. "If you need any help you can always knock on our door, I'd be happy to help," she added. I was glad that Ness would have someone to help her out when I left, which I would have to do soon, unfortunately. My plane left in two hours and I would probably have to get there early to go through security.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Carlie and this is Seth," Nessie said, gesturing to me when she said my name. "And I'll most likely take you up on your offer," she said, taking Sarah's hand and shaking it.

"Okay, I'll let you get settled in. I'll talk to you later," Sarah smiled once more before leaving the door way and going to her own room.

"She seems like a nice girl," I commented, trying to break the silence that feel upon us once the girl was gone and the door was closed. Nessie merely hummed in agreement as she began unpacking. I stood awkwardly, not knowing if she wanted me touching her stuff or not. After standing there in silence for five minutes, I noticed tears falling from Nessie's eyes as she unpacked some pictures. I slowly walked towards her. "Ness?" I said softly, taking the picture out of her hand and placing it on the bedside table. It was one of her and Jake at their honeymoon. I gently put my arms around her and guided her onto the bed.

She threw her arms around my neck and sobbed quietly into my chest. It broke my heart to see her like this. Being a half-vampire meant that she rarely cried. The only other time she had cried like this was when Charlie died two years before Jake left. Now, ever since Jake left, she had been crying whenever something reminded her of him. I hated him for doing this to her, but knew that he had to have a really good reason for leaving and not staying in contact. A wolf can't leave his imprint that easily. I knew that because I had asked Sam repeatedly after Jake left, and he assured me that there had to be something threatening Nessie that Jake had to get rid of. What it was, though, was a mystery to everyone.

"Shh, it's okay. Don't cry," I tried to sooth her. I had never been very good at the whole comforting thing. I patted her back and continued to murmur soothing phrases, and after about five minutes she finally stopped crying.

"I'm sorry," she muttered, letting go of me and wiping her eyes. She didn't look me in the eye as she stood up and began putting more things away. I knew that she hated to come off as weak in front of people, even people, like me, whom she was close to.

Again I sat there not knowing what to do. After I while I decided that I should probably go back to the airport. I didn't want to miss my flight. "I should go," I said, looking up at Nessie. She barely turned to me and merely nodded her head. "I'll miss you." Another nod. "Call if you need anything." Nod. "Bye."

This time she turned fully around and wrapped her arms around me. She put her hand on my cheek and sent me an image of "Bye" then a feeling of love. "I love you," she said out loud when she let go of me. This made me smile. She had said it before in the past, and it was a brother and sister love, but she hadn't said those words to anyone ever since Jake left. Not even her parents. And she tried to use her power as little as possible. It gave me hope that she was returning to her normal self. Slowly but surely.

"I love you, too. Be careful but have a lot of fun," she laughed at this, making me smile again. I opened the door slowly, looking back at her one last time before leaving.

* * *

**Renesmee's POV**

I watched as Seth slowly left the room. I didn't know why I was being so emotional about Jake. It had been a year since I last saw him and aside from not wanting to talk I had been able to look at pictures of Jake without crying. Maybe it was because I knew that Seth was leaving too. He was just going back to Forks, but it seemed so far away now. I had thought that moving here was going to be a good idea, but I was beginning to doubt it.

When the door closed I moved back to my things and finished unpacking. Just as I was putting away my last piece of clothing there was a knock at the door. I closed the dresser drawer and opened the door to see the girl, Sarah standing there. "Hey!" she said excitedly. "Do you want to come out with us tonight? We can introduce you to everyone and show you part of the town?" She asked.

I thought about it for a second. It would be good for me to get out. And I had nothing to do but sit around here. So I nodded. "Sure. What should I wear?" I asked, not knowing where exactly we were going.

"Well, this is what I'm wearing, if that helps," she said, looking down at her clothes. She was wearing a t-shirt and skinny jeans. So something casual. I hoped that Alice actually packed some good clothes. Unlike her and Rosalie, I hated shopping. Like mother like daughter I guess.

"Okay, give me ten minutes," I said. She nodded and walked back to her room and I shut my door and began looking through my drawers. In the end I settled on a jean miniskirt and a v-neck black t-shirt. I loved wearing black because it made me look paler than I was, which I liked because it made me blend into my family better. Mom said it didn't help with trying to fit into humans, but I didn't really care that much.

I grabbed my purse and left the room, going to knock on Sarah's door. She opened and her and an African American girl stepped out. "This is Kate," Sarah introduced. I smiled at her. "Our friend Tyler is going to drive us," she explained as we walked down the stairs.

"Actually, would you mind if I followed in my car?" I asked. I wanted to drive because I would probably want to leave early, and I didn't want to have to stop everyone from enjoying themselves.

"Yeah that's fine," Sarah said. Went we exited the building there was a huge Hummer there with two boys in the front seats. Yeah, I was definitely glad that I was driving myself. Sarah walked over to the car and the driver rolled down the window. "Hey Tyler," she greeted him. "This is Carlie, she's new here so I thought we would bring her to Nicky's. She's going to follow you in her car, okay?" she asked and without waiting for an answer she jumped in the back seat with Kate.

"You parked in the student parking lot?" Tyler asked me. I nodded and began walking towards the parking lot. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to find my car since Seth parked it, but it was right in front of me as soon as I stepped onto the pavement. I unlocked it and got it, pulling out. I noticed Tyler's Hummer at the end of the parking lot and began driving after him.

The bar was not that far from the school. When we pulled in I could immediately tell it was a favorite hangout place. It was packed. I parked next to the Hummer and got out at the same time as the passenger of the Hummer, almost hitting his door with mine. "Sorry," I said sheepishly. He smiled at me and shook his head to show that it was alright. He was tall, blonde, and gorgeous. I smiled back at him. "I'm Carlie," I introduced myself as we began walking behind the girls and Tyler.

"Reid Garwin," he said, sticking his hand out for me to shake. I noticed that he was wearing fingerless gloves and shook his hand. Gloves would probably be a good idea for me. I wouldn't accidently use my power on people.

We walked into the bar and I was immediately hit with the smells of alcohol, smoke, and sweat. It was kind of gross, in my opinion, and I wondered why it didn't seem to affect the others but figured that they were either used to the smell or it wasn't as strong for them since they weren't half-vampires. I followed them to a table in the back where two other boys were sitting. Sarah and Kate each went up to one of them and kissed them before turning and sitting on their laps. "Carlie, this is Caleb," Sarah said, motioning to the one she was sitting on. "And that's Pogue," she motioned to the one under Kate. "Guys this is Carlie, she's new here and I figured we could show her a good time," she finished.

"Nice to meet you, Carlie," Caleb said with a smile. He seemed nice.

"You too," I said. I took a seat across from them in between Reid and Tyler.

"So where are you from?" Tyler asked, turning to me.

"Um, Forks, Washington," I said. They gave me blank stares, obviously never hearing of the town Forks before. I didn't blame them, it was so small. "It's kind of near Seattle," I explained further. At this they all nodded.

"That's really far away," Reid said, pointing out the obvious. "How come you decided to go to school here?" he asked.

"Um, to get away I guess," I said, trying to be as honest as possible. I hadn't thought of a cover story before, which I probably should have, looking back on it, but I didn't really mind telling these humans. It's not like they could do anything.

"Ah, running away from family?" he said with a smirk. I thought about that. I technically was running away. But not to get away from my family so much as to get away from the past. I told him this and it seemed to shock him. He couldn't imagine what kind of past I had in order to want to get away so badly. I hoped that he didn't ask about it because how would I explain to a bunch of human teenagers that I had been married for three years when one day my husband just up and leaves for a reason that may be to protect me (Seth didn't think I heard him and Sam talking about it, but I did). They wouldn't understand.

Thankfully, Tyler seemed to sense my reluctance to speak of my past any longer, and asked Reid if he wanted to go play pool. Reid agreed and they stood up and headed towards the pool tables, leaving me alone with the couples. The girls had at this point gotten their own chairs and were in a conversation with each other, but when they noticed Reid and Tyler leave they immediately turned and included me in it. They were talking about fashion, which didn't interest me, but I was able to follow along and add in certain details because of my background with Alice in all fashion.

My phone rang and I jumped, quickly opening my purse and grabbing it. Speak of the devil, it was Alice. I excused myself and walked over to a quiet corner, close to the pool tables. "Alice! What's up?" I asked when I answered.

"Is Seth still there?" she asked, sounding nervous. This made me nervous. Had he not come home yet? But his plane left a couple of hours ago, so he was probably still flying. Now I was just confused.

"No, why?" I asked, curiosity laced in my voice.

"I can't see you," she said dramatically. This made me pause. Once I reached maturity, Alice's visions had begun working on me, unless I was around one of the wolves. "I don't know why either. The last thing I saw was you walking outside. I thought you had died or something!"

"Well I didn't die, but I don't know why you can't see me," I said, trying to think if I could smell a wolf. Maybe Seth had stayed back to watch me? I didn't know.

"Is there any wolf there?" Alice asked.

"No, no wolves," I said. "Is it the distance?"

Alice gasped; she was obviously offended by that question. My bad. "NO! I was able to see Edward in Italy from Forks so seeing you in Massachusetts is not that big of a problem." I thought back to that story. Dad had left Mom because he thought she would be safer without him. Mom had gone into a depression like I was. But Dad came back. Jake was nowhere to be found and he wouldn't know if I was in trouble or not.

"Okay, well I'll try and figure it out. Let me know when you can see me again," I said before saying good bye and hanging up the phone. I slowly walked back to the table thinking about what Alice had said. Why couldn't she see me anymore? What was different about the outside of my building from the inside?

I wasn't paying attention to where I was going since I had so much on my mind and ended up bumping into Reid. "Oh, sorry," I said absentmindedly.

He turned around to face me and smiled. "No problem," he said. "So was that your boyfriend you were on the phone with?" he asked teasingly.

I rolled my eyes at him. "I don't have a boyfriend," I told him honestly. And it was the truth. I didn't have a boyfriend, but I did have a husband. He was just missing at the moment. Looking back, it would have been easier to tell him I had a boyfriend. Maybe he would have laid off and I wouldn't be in such a mess now. But I can't really regret it. Reid means a lot to me…

* * *

**Words:** 3,503

**Music:** Breathe by Taylor Swift

**Comments:** I dunno. I shouldn't be writing this. Review please. Next chapter to come soon. And if you didn't get it, the last paragraph is foreshadowing. Not that I need to foreshadow anything because what's gunna happen is pretty obvious, well at least I think it is.


	2. Tied Together with a Smile

**Chapter Two: ****Tied Together with a Smile**

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_  
Hold on, baby you're losing it  
The water's high, you're jumping into it  
And letting go…and no one knows  
You cry, but you don't tell anyone  
That you might not be the golden one  
And you're tied together with a smile But you're coming undone**  
**_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

**Reid's POV**

I was really beginning to like this new girl. Carlie Black, the one running away from her past, had just finished telling Aaron off, finishing her rant with a slap to his face. It was the greatest thing I had ever witnessed. Aaron had come up to her while she was walking back to our table and put his arms around her waist, whispering something in her ear. She pulled away from him, a look of disgust on her face. She yelled at him, saying things like 'how dare you touch me' 'you're a perv' and 'get away from me' and then proceeded to slap him. It was probably the best reaction any girl has ever had to him, and from the look on his face I could tell he was not too happy about it. I walked over to them and lightly pulled Carlie away before Aaron could do anything drastic, like hit her back. I wouldn't put it past him to do something that low. Especially when he gets mad. Trust me, I know.

When we reached our table, everyone was laughing and stood up to give Carlie high fives. "That was amazing!" Tyler said once he had joined us from the pool tables. "I have never seen someone hit Aaron." I coughed. "Well, except for Reid," he added with a laugh, hitting my shoulder.

"Well he deserved it," she said with a slight smirk. "Plus, my…friend told me to just slap the guys who are being idiots and they'd leave me alone," she added. I noticed the way she hesitated when she said 'friend' and I wondered the reason. Maybe it was an ex-boyfriend or something.

"The one that was helping you move in this morning?" Sarah asked Carlie.

Carlie laughed. "No that was Seth. He's too immature to give good advice like that." We all laughed at that. This Seth guy seemed like an interesting person. I would have to meet him. "The one who said that was very protective. He tried to do anything he could to help me," she said in a more somber tone. She looked upset. I wanted to question her on it, but I figured that making the new girl cry on her first day was probably not a good thing.

No one knew what to say after that. After a minute of awkward silence, a new song came from the jukebox. Sarah squealed and jumped up, grabbing Caleb's hand. It was their song. Ew. I did not need to see this. Kate and Pogue followed them to the dance floor. Then Tyler went and found some random girl to dance with. I do not know what happened to that boy. One minute he's too shy to talk to a girl, the next he's dancing with anyone he can find. He seriously confused me.

I realized that it was just me and Carlie left, so I turned to her and extended my hand. "Would you care for a dance? I swear I won't come onto you like Aaron," I said with a laugh.

She smiled and took my hand, letting me pull her up with me. I brought her to the dance floor and she put her arms awkwardly around my neck. I placed my hands on her hips and started swaying to the music. Dancing was not my thing, but I had wanted Carlie to smile again. After she mentioned the protective friend, possibly ex-boyfriend, she looked upset. I wondered if that was the horrible thing in her past that she was running from. It would make sense.

"How do you like it here so far?" I asked, leaning my head closer to her so she would be able to hear me over the music.

"I'm starting to enjoy it. Maybe moving wasn't such a bad idea," she said, then looked up at me and smiled. I smiled back. She was definitely hot, but after the incident with Aaron I knew I couldn't be my usual player self if I wanted to get with her. But I also didn't want to. I could tell that she was hurting, and as hard as it is to believe, I didn't want to end up hurting her even more. When she thought no one was looking, her smile would slip and a depressed look would settle on her face. I could tell that she was broken, and I didn't want to be the one responsible for breaking her even more.

"Good," I replied. We stayed silent for the rest of the song, just letting our bodies move with the music. We danced for one more song before she said she was thirsty, so I lead her back to our table, where Sarah and Caleb were making out. I swear, ever since Caleb's ascension, they have been all over each other. It gets gross. I cleared my throat and they pulled away, smiling sheepishly. "I'm going to get Carlie something to drink, either of you want anything? Except each other's saliva," I asked.

"Haha, very funny," Caleb said, pushing me away from the table.

I rolled my eyes and walked to the bar, ordering two cokes. Nicky got them quickly and I paid before heading back to the table. Sarah was in a conversation with Carlie about her old town. I set the drink in front of her before taking a seat to her right, settling in to listen to her describe her old life.

"We lived in the biggest house in town, and compared to the houses I've seen around here it was tiny. It was my dad and mom, my twin aunt and uncle from my dad's side and their spouses and me in the house. My brother used to live with us, but he got married and moved a couple miles away," she explained. "And then we always had visitors from our friends from the Quileute tribe that was a few miles away. They were like my second family all my life. For a while my family and their whole tribe didn't really like each other. But when Edward, my brother, met Bella, my sister-in-law, we became closer to them because Bella was friends with them. And then I met them all and they all loved me and couldn't stay away," she said with a laugh.

I smiled at this. I could tell that she really loved her family, and the tribe. It was good to know something about her past.

"That sounds nice," Sarah said with a smile. "If I were you, I would've never left," she added with a laugh.

When she said this, Carlie's face fell. No one else noticed it, but the pain stretching across her face was as obvious as day. I again wondered why she was so upset and so afraid of her past. I didn't want to see anything hurt her.

* * *

**Renesmee's POV**

"If I were you, I would've never left." Sarah's words echoed in my head. If Jake had still been there, there was no way I would have left. But without him, I lost my anchor, my love. I couldn't face my family, knowing that they felt pity for me every time they looked at me. It had been driving me crazy for months, until I had finally decided to move.

After sitting in peaceful silence for a while, I stood up, grabbing my purse. "I'm going to head back to the dorms. The flight this morning wore me out," I said.

"Oh, okay. Well I'll see you tomorrow then," Sarah said with a smile.

I said goodbye to everyone else and headed towards the exit. I heard someone follow me and noticed Reid. He didn't speak until we were out of the bar. "You'll need someone to show you the way," he explained with a shrug of his shoulders.

"You don't-" I started, but I was cut off by him. "It's my pleasure," he said with a smirk. I just rolled my eyes and led the way to the car. We got in and I could tell he was admiring it.

I drove for a while in silence, only interrupted by Reid's occasional directions. I had memorized the route on the way there, but I didn't want to tell him that. When we were a block away, Reid suddenly said, "I could tell that what Sarah said upset you. Is that why you wanted to leave?"

This shocked me. I thought I had become good at hiding emotions from my face, but I guess not. Or maybe it was just since Jake left…"I was um…just thinking about someone. But it doesn't matter, he's not important," I said, trying to get away from this conversation.

"You don't have to tell me anything if you don't want to, but, as surprising as it is, I'm a good listener," he said with a smile. I almost took him up on that deal. The operative word being almost.

"Thanks, but it's really not anything important," I said just as I was pulling into a parking space. "Thanks for the directions," I said before I got out of the car.

We said goodbye and walked to our separate dorms. I changed and got ready for bed. I hadn't realized before but I was exhausted. I lay down in bed and quickly fell asleep. That night I had the reoccurring dream of Jake that I had been having ever since he left. But this time, it was a little different.

_Jake was in wolf form running beside me in the forest. We were hunting. I challenged him to a race and, like always, he let me win. The trees flashed by me, and after I ran into the meadow I turned around preparing for Jake to jump on me. But he didn't come from out of the woods. "Jakey?" I called out in a teasing voice, thinking that he was going to surprise me. After five minutes I began to worry. "Jake come on, this isn't funny anymore," I called, assuming that since he always did what I wanted he would finally give up and come out. A twig snapped somewhere behind me. I whirled around. "Jake, please, I'm seriously scared right now," I whispered. Someone did walk out of the forest, but it wasn't Jake. "The wolf won't be arriving," the figure said. I froze. I had just recognized who it was. It was Caleb, Sarah's boyfriend whom I had met a few hours ago. His eyes turned black and I felt something push me back. I crashed into a tree, and the last thing I saw before passing out was Caleb walking towards me with his hands out in front of him…_

I sat up in bed breathing deeply. The dream usually ended with me wandering the forest looking for Jake. I had no idea why Caleb was in my dream, or what he meant by saying Jake wouldn't be coming. It scared me. Tears began to fall down my cheeks. I grabbed my phone from my bedside table and dialed Jake's number. It always went to voicemail, but just hearing his voice calmed me down. This time was no different. After I left my usual message ("Jake, it's Renesmee. I wish you would come home") I got out of bed and left the room, hoping to find the bathroom.

I wandered the halls, but found nothing. I really should have found out where they were before going to sleep. As I was walking back to my room, I noticed Caleb slowly closing Sarah's door. I froze. My dream was still fresh in my mind. He looked up and noticed me. "Hey," he said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. I looked down and realized he must have slept with Sarah. His shirt was only half buttoned, his shoes were in his hands, and his hair was all over the place. He looked closer at me and must have noticed the tear stains on my face. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Just trying to find the bathroom," I mumbled, not looking him in the eyes. I didn't want to see if they were black or not. Even if it was just a dream.

"The end of the second hallway, on the left," he directed me. I nodded and headed back down to the bathroom. Once inside, I shut the door, turned on the lights and sank to the ground, putting my arms around my legs and sobbing quietly into my knees.

_-_-_-_

The next morning I woke up slowly, not wanting to get out of bed. It was Sunday and I really didn't want to do anything today. Plus, I wanted to stay away from Caleb after my dream and our encounter last night. My plans were ruined, however, when I heard knocking on my door. I groaned and got out of bed, opening the door. "What?" I asked, looking into Reid's face.

"I'm guessing you're not a morning person," he said with a smirk, taking in my disheveled appearance. "Anyway, we were going to go out for lunch. Wanna come?"

"Give me ten minutes," I said before closing the door. I heard him go back to Sarah's room, and I could tell that everyone was in there. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but I heard when they all laughed at something. I got dressed at half-vampire speed and was out of my room right as everyone was coming out of Sarah's.

"Wow, you get ready fast," Reid said. I shrugged, following them outside.

Sarah and Caleb got into his car, Pogue and Kate on a motorcycle, and I climbed into the backseat of the Hummer behind Reid and Tyler. I was glad it was just us. Tyler was usually quiet and Reid seemed like he knew where to stop questioning me. "Where are we going?" I asked.

"A restaurant that Baby Boy's family owns," Reid said. This confused me. I didn't know who 'Baby Boy' was. But I saw Tyler roll his eyes in the rear view mirror and guessed that it was him.

The rest of the ride was silent. I guess they had as much on their minds as I did. I was thinking about my dream and about Caleb specifically. He hadn't been mean to me in the time that I've known him. In fact, he had been very nice. I didn't know why my imagination would go as far as making him, or any of the guys I had met, so mean.

The restaurant was ten minutes from the school. Tyler parked and we all got out. It was a nice looking place, not too fancy but just fancy enough. When we walked in the hostess greeted the guys and immediately led us to a table in a separate room from the main restaurant. Perks of being the son of the owners, I guess. We all sat at the table and I was put between Reid and Sarah. Thankfully, Caleb was next to Sarah, so I wouldn't really have to look at him during lunch.

I ordered some kind of fancy Italian pasta. Ever since Jake left, I had stopped hunting. It just wasn't as fun without him. And I didn't need blood to survive like my parents. The family had, of course, been thrilled when I wouldn't hunt. Mom especially who didn't want me to have to kill things. And Esme loved cooking, so of course she immediately went to the store to buy food and cooking items. She was a very good cook.

After everyone had finished eating, Sarah and Kate went to the bathroom. Reid was discussing cars with Tyler and Pogue, so I was left sitting there with Caleb.

"Are you okay? I mean, last night you were in tears," Caleb asked quietly, leaning over so no one else heard.

"I'm fine; I just had a nightmare last night. No big deal," I said, looking out over the table, anywhere except Caleb.

"Are you sure?" he asked again. I merely nodded, not wanting to tell him that he was part of the nightmare. I could tell that he didn't want to accept my answer, but Sarah and Kate were back so he couldn't really say anything.

_-_-_-_

The next day was school. I woke up early and walked down to meet the guys with Sarah and Kate. Caleb looked over at me, and I could tell he didn't want to drop the subject of my crying the other night. But I was in no mood to talk to him. I sat myself at the other end of the table from him so he wouldn't have a chance to talk to me unless he said it so everyone could hear. Reid quickly sat down next to me. "Ready to learn?" he said jokingly.

"Not at all," I said, smiling back at him. He laughed and settled down to eat his breakfast. "Are any of the classes interesting?" I asked, wanting to learn more about the school.

He shrugged. "It depends what you're interested in. I personally hate all classes, except for gym. Now Tyler, on the other hand, will tell you that every class has merit and are interesting in their own ways. That's a load of shit. Do not listen to him for school advice," Reid said seriously.

Tyler heard the last part about him and reached over the table to smack Reid on the head. "You're an idiot," he said as he sat back down. I laughed at the irritated look on Reid's face. Tyler turned to me. "Don't listen to Reid for school advice unless you want to know the best ways to fail a class."

"Hey! I'll have you know I only failed one class!" Reid interrupted, looking highly offended.

"Yeah, one class last semester," Pogue said, laughing at the banter between Reid and Tyler.

Reid huffed in annoyance. Two against one was not good odds, so he gave up. "It's okay, Reid, I've failed classes before," I said soothingly.

He perked up at this. "Really? I would expect you to be the straight A's type of girl. What class did you fail?" he asked.

"History, it's my worst subject," I said. It really wasn't. I had only failed the class because Jake had taken it with me. And we sat next to each other. Let's just say that there wasn't a lot of learning going on when we had private study sessions. Since then, I've learned what I needed to and could pass the class easily, with or without a distraction like that.

"Well lucky for you it's my best subject…well sort of. I know the Salem Witch Trials like the back of my hand. Everything else is a blur, though," he said. I briefly wondered why he knew all about the Witch trials. Maybe because we were so close to Salem and they interested him? Who knew.

The bell rang and I quickly threw out my trash before picking up my book bag and following Tyler to English class. We had all went over our schedules before and found that I had all of my classes with at least one of them, so I could just follow them around and not have to worry about getting lost.

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**Words:** 3,214

**Music:** Tied Together with a Smile by Taylor Swift

**Comments:** Read/Review and all that good stuff. This chapter actually came a lot quicker than I thought it would. Next chapter in the far future.


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